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By Micah McCartney
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A pair of sanctioned container ships suspected of carrying materials for Iran’s missile program are en route to the country after loading cargo at a Chinese port, even as U.S. and Israeli strikes continue to erode the Islamic Republic’s offensive capabilities.
Both vessels are operated by the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which the U.S. State Department has described as the "preferred shipping line for Iranian proliferators and procurement agents."
Why It Matters
Iran’s missile forces have been significantly weakened in the 12 days since the United States and Israel launched a wave of strikes on Iranian military targets, killing former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other senior leaders.
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Tehran has responded with thousands of missiles and drones launched at targets across the Middle East, attacks that are increasingly straining U.S. and Israeli air-defense systems and depleting interceptor stocks.
Washington has for years accused Beijing of supplying Iran with dual-use materials that can support its missile programs. Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned six Chinese entities and six individuals for their alleged roles in procuring such materials.
Newsweek reached out to the Chinese and Iranian foreign ministries by email with requests for comment.
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What To Know
The 980-foot Shabdis and the 1,200-foot Barzin departed Gaolan Port—a chemical storage hub in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai—last week, ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic reviewed by Newsweek shows.
Gaolan, a major hub for heavy industry, also serves as a loading port for chemical exports, including sodium perchlorate—a key precursor for solid rocket fuel—Midad Maleki**,** a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told The Washington Post.
Based on previous shipments from Gaolan to Iran, the involvement of IRISL and the movements of the two vessels, Maleki said it's likely sodium perchlorate is onboard.
The report echoes an assessment by European intelligence sources that Iran imported roughly 2,000 tons of sodium perchlorate—including about 1,000 tons sourced from China—in September and October last year as Tehran sought to rebuild missile stockpiles depleted during its 12-day war with Israel in June 2025 and in earlier, smaller-scale exchanges. The quantity of sodium perchlorate imported is enough to produce roughly 500 ballistic missiles.
China, a longstanding strategic partner of Iran and top importer of its oil, has condemned the U.S.-Israeli strikes as a violation of international law but has not intervened directly on Tehran’s behalf. Analysts say Beijing has little incentive to do so given the risk of escalation with Washington and Iran’s limited importance to China’s core strategic priorities.
What People Are Saying
Isaac Kardon, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the Post: “China could have held these vessels at port, imposed an administrative delay, invented a customs hold—any number of bureaucratic tools, but didn’t.
”Given the track record, the most parsimonious explanation is that they’re loading the same commodity they’ve been shuttling for the past year-plus."
Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, wrote on X Sunday: "The unlawful U.S.-Israeli war of aggression against Iran has torpedoed diplomatic efforts, shattered the very foundations of international law, and unleashed a devastating assault on humanity itself. Iran is now exercising its inherent right to self-defense under international law."
What Happens Next
As of the time of writing, the Shabdis was sailing west of Indonesia’s island of Sumatra and is on track to arrive at the Iranian port of Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman around March 16, according to ship-tracking data. The Barzin was moving northwest through the Malacca Strait and is due to reach Chabahar around March 20.
It remains unclear whether the U.S. military or its regional partners will attempt to intercept the vessels.
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